Orienteering is an outdoor navigation sport, in which you use a map to find checkpoints in a park or forest. Cambridge public school students in grades JK, K, 1, 2 and 3 are studying orienteering in PE. To complement the elementary school orienteering PE unit, Navigation Games is hosting mini-games at 12 sites around Cambridge. We will have different courses on each of the three weeks at each site. The first week we will have a geometric layout of checkpoints, and in weeks 2 and 3 we'll use orienteering maps of the space. Typically participants spend about half an hour at our games. You are welcome to come to multiple events, but do sign up for each one separately.
This will be a nice opportunity for students who have done the unit in school to teach their parents and practice their skills. For remote learners, it is an opportunity to get outside and try an activity that their in-person classmates got to do in school. All are welcome, particularly students in grades JK-3, whether in-person or remote learners.
In order to follow COVID guidelines, you must pre-register. You can register multiple participants from your household or pod, in the same registration. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Adults may also participate. Please look for email instructions prior to the event.
Due to the pandemic, one family or pod will start at a time, and staggered arrival times will be assigned before the event. Masks and social distancing are required. Participants will pick up sanitized maps and timing cards at the scheduled time. You will need to fill out a covid screening form the day of the orienteering; we do not allow participation if you have been exposed to covid, have a positive test result, are quarantining or experiencing symptoms consistent with covid-19. We have completed the events at Tobin, Dana Park and Sennott Field. Here are the remaining events:
Danehy: Mondays 1/25, 2/1, 2/8 - Arrival times between 2:30 and 4:00
Morse School: Tuesdays 1/26, 2/2, 2/9 - Arrival times between 2:30 and 4:00
Hoyt Field: Wednesdays 1/27, 2/3, 2/10 - Arrival times between 3:30 and 5:00
Sacramento Field: Mondays 3/8, 3/15, 3/22 - Arrival times between 3:00 and 4:30
Ahern Field (Kennedy-Longfellow): Tuesdays 3/9, 3/16, 3/23 - Arrival times between 2:30 and 4:00
Bergin Park (Peabody School): Wednesdays 3/10, 3/17, 3/24 - Arrival times between 2:30 and 4:00
King Open fields: Mondays 3/29, 4/5, 4/12 - Arrival times between 3:00 and 4:30
Somewhere near Haggerty School TBD: Tuesdays 3/30, 4/6, 4/13 - Arrival times between 2:30 and 4:00
Greene-Rose Park: Wednesdays 3/31, 4/7, 4/14 - Arrival times between 2:30 and 4:00
Navigation Games is grateful to the Cambridge Public Schools PE department, to the Cambridge Recreation department, to the City of Cambridge for a COVID grant that supports this work, to Dr. Carolyn Turk for her support of our outdoor education during the pandemic, to the Mayor’s Office for their support, and to the Curriculum & Achievement School Committee Subcommittee for their inquiries and support of outdoor learning.
